Ashley Nichols April 15, 2015
Self-Evaluation Intern at Silk Painters International’s Silkworm
My Role as Intern In January of this 2014, I was hired by Silk Painters International’s (SPIN) quarterly publication, Silkworm, to be their newest intern. Throughout the past three semesters, I have continued to cultivate my relationship with the organization and with the magazine’s editor, Tunizia Abdur-Raheem. Over the past year and a half I have grown tremendously and my responsibilities have expanded. When I started out in the beginning, I primarily wrote and edited one article at a time, however this semester I have also been given copyediting and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I like writing and I appreciate the challenge, but editing is my expertise. Having the task of copyediting full issues has been more fun than work; it was fantastic! Because this internship is a continued one from prior semesters, it has come to feel natural. I have cherished the mentors who have taken the time to teach and shape me as a writer and editor. Most of all, Tunizia has been irreplaceable in giving me plenty of feedback and responsibility. Working with her has taught me how to be a contributor to a real publication and more importantly how to have an open line of communication. Silkworm is a quarterly publication that deals with anything and everything relating to silk painting. It contains feature articles about the different SPIN members who are doing something worth spotlighting. It also keeps SPIN members up-to-date on any events or important things they should know. It seems like it would reach a small crowd, but, to even my surprise, this magazine reaches a large number of individuals, mainly women in their older years who share a passion for silk painting. So, it has been even more exciting to work with them.
What I Did
My first assignment this semester was copyediting volume 21, issue 4 of the Silkworm. This was such a fun assignment for and a great chance to sharpen my skills. I edited the articles individually, as well as layout and any grammatical errors or misspellings; this task was a wellrounded one. It was certainly time consuming, but was assigned at the beginning of the semester, so I certainly had the time. My next assignment was writing an article. I was both excited and apprehensive, because interviewing people makes me a bit nervous; It is not my talent. This assignment was also slightly rushed and I had less time than usual to complete it. I spent about a week researching Asher Katz, the topic of my article, and compiling interview questions. After the
interview I spent the next week writing the article. By the time I finished, I felt like it was good, but not great, simply because I felt rushed and I am a huge perfectionist! However, it was a huge sigh of relief to hear how much Tunizia liked it; it made me feel proud. My next mini-assignments were to create little teasers for previous issues just to give potential readers an idea of what the magazine had in store. I did one for fall, spring, winter, and summer 2014. These were fun to make, because I had more creative leeway. It was a little bit challenge, because my editor did not give me much instruction other than to create the teasers, so I created two drafts; one draft was very straight forward and dull, and the other was more enticing in a creative manner. I was leaning more towards the creatively written piece, simply because I believe it did a better job of capturing the potential readers’ attention, but I created a second more straight forward draft that matched the style of the magazine. After getting Tunizia’s feedback I created a third draft that was enticing, but also included quotes from the featured articles. This mini-assignment was quite fun, because I was allowed to write in a more upbeat tone, which is my personal preference. After that, I copyedit an article for Cassia Maia and focused primarily on spelling and grammar. This was interesting, because I wanted to keep her voice in the article while giving it flow and sense, so it was a little challenge. I spent a couple of days contemplating how to edit this, which was a difficult decision, simply because I wanted to make the article a coherent piece that flowed well from paragraph to paragraph while keeping Cassia’s voice. I believe she is of Hispanic origins and she wrote her article how she would speak, which is where my problem lied. I ended up choosing to keep her tone by cleaning up her sentences via grammar and spelling, and I only reworded a few sentences to gain more clarification. The final product was a polished piece that said what she wanted to, in her own tone of voice, but in a clear and understandable format. I had another on-going assignment in which I went through and verified the archives over the past decades. This task took about two weeks to complete and although it did not require writing or editing, it was time consuming. I had to go through old files and check for correct labeling, verify the issue numbers and make sure the years were listed in order. This was not part of my original contract, but I just enjoy learning all the aspects of what goes into having and maintaining a magazine that I decided it would be fun! All-in-all, I made myself available to help out in anyway, be it writing, editing, archiving, copyediting, etc. I think by doing this, I have learned skills outside of my general “toolbox,” so to speak. The best way to grow is to put oneself out there and step out of their comfort zone. My time spent with this internship at Silkworm had been so beneficial. Tunizia has taught me so much and I appreciate the magazine for staying committed to me throughout my three semesters with them. Looking back to when I began with them over a year ago I have my portfolios that show my growth. I think it is easy to feel stagnant, but by reading my older articles and reading my current articles I have physical evidence that proves how much I have learned and how my writing has transformed. At the beginning I was unable to write well in a format that was not academia; because I have been a student my entire life all I know is the essay format of writing. However, just by having this internship I have progressively learned how to write a magazine-style article. I have also overcome the challenge of creating a professional piece that excludes my first-person voice. I am so used to writing my own opinion in an article, that I had not realized I was doing it for my pieces for the Silkworm. With the
feedback and guidance I received from Tunizia, I was able to write professionally and include my voice without it being done in first-person. I am sad to be leaving, but since I am graduating, they have offered to have me come back as a freelance writer and editor, so I am extremely excited for the continuity of opportunity they have provided. I never thought that three semesters ago I would learn so much and that my writing would become transformed. As I look forward to graduation I am now equipped with a professional skill set of writing, editing, copyediting, and more importantly how to function in a professional relationship and setting. The experience and relationships I have formed are irreplaceable.
My Strengths and Weaknesses Throughout this semester I have strengthened my knowledge of silk painting, which is vital for this specific magazine. I have also continued to sharpen my editing skills and added copyediting to the mix. I think my biggest accomplishment was learning to write a feature in a new light. The story I wrote on Asher was the first in which my voice did not exist, and this was a challenge for me in my previous semesters with the Silkworm. Beginning with this semester I was so set on writing articles that were heavily ingrained with my voice and opinion, and although each semester with Silkworm I have improved little by little, it was this semester when I really overcame this challenge. Tunizia really provided great direction by being kindly honest with my work. I have not known her to be very forthright with praise, but this semester she had the perfect balance of praising my work when it met her standards and giving the necessary feedback when it did not. This semester we got into a good groove of intern-supervisor interactions, since I am only their second intern and the first interned for a very brief amount of time. It was a great learning process for both of us.
My Overall Experience I have been beyond blessed with this internship and I am so grateful that Tunizia and Silkworm gave me the opportunity to work with them for so long! It is a great feeling to have the magazine remain loyal to growing me as a writer and an editor. They have invested their time and energy into making me better in the industry and never gave up. I will continue to keep in touch with Tunizia and work for her as a freelancer. I can happily end this semester’s internship on a positive note. I have sharpened my skills, learned new things and have been challenged to grow as a writer and editor. I have gained new friends and professional connections. I have created and accomplished work that I am genuinely proud of and can use for my professional portfolio for future job applications. I cannot wait to see what my future has in store regarding freelance work, especially with the Silkworm. All-in-all this semester has exceeded my expectations. My editor Tunizia gave me more responsibilities with copyediting, archiving and much more. She was actually sad to hear I was graduating, because it meant my time as their intern would end, but if all works out with the Silkworm’s budget I will be doing the same work with pay, which would be a fantastic addition to my résumé and experience. Also, Tunizia is applying for a grant that if approved would allow me to accompany her to their bi-annual silk painting festival in California, where I would be able to meet the people I have been working with firsthand, as well as learn how to interview silk painters in person (as of now everything has been done via email).
This internship really exceeded all that I could have hoped and I now have a professional relationship with those involved with the Silkworm. I am so glad that this is required for Florida State University’s Editing, Writing and Media major, but even if it was not I would still recommend students take an internship.